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Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Music Video and Single Review: Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball

Bashing Miley will only help her further dominate iTunes charts across the globe. Chastise her all you want, call her a slut, call her a whore. Yes, she's naked, but it's really not that big of a deal.

She's naked. Get over it. Everybody and their mother knows she likes to over sexualize things. Would it be better if she didn't? Of course. But with the music industry rewarding those who bare as much skin as possible with platinum records, it shouldn't be that shocking for people. Yes, she's 20. Yes, we also know her as Hannah Montana. Yes, she is trying to push the envelope way too hard, but really, it's the world that we live in we should blame for her turning out this way, not Billy Ray's parenting techniques.
With that out of the way, the song Wrecking Ball is far superior to We Cant Stop in every single aspect, but with its less club ready nature, it was a smart move on the part of her label for waiting to put it out (ballad lead singles are generally a no-no). She wails pretty hard, chokes out all the emotion that she can, but even then, its just good. Not great. She makes the lyrics sound more powerful than generic, but the production really lets her down here; we've probably heard the same arrangement on 400 power ballads, but with that said, Miley did the ballad justice. Applause for Miley, no standing ovation.

The video brought One Direction's VEVO record to the slaughterhouse, pummeling 1D's 12.3 million one day views, with 19.3 million. In the video, as mentioned, she's naked and holding on to the Wrecking Ball for dear life. And yes, for whatever reason, she makes out with a sludge hammer. This video shows so much potential, but throwing sex into a power ballad video just makes it feel out of place. Even though Rihanna was naked in a bathtub in her Stay video, it didn't feel out of place. Because it didn't feel like she was relying on her body to sell the video. Miley however, makes sure you see as much of her as you possibly can, and thats why the line should be drawn. Nudity is okay, as long as it doesn't drown out your art. Miley needs to understand this, so she can be appreciated as an artist and not a stripper.